It's What's Inside That Counts
by sammy1026
Summary: It's the night before Mary and Aaron's wedding and a few problems arise.


_Mari & Ilna- you guys are the absolute best. Thanks for EVERYTHING! There are no two people I'd rather be on this ride with._

 _Sandy-what would I do without you?_

 _REAL Worlders-I can never fully express what all your amazing support means to me. All I can say is that in our fourth calendar year your support and encouragement keeps me as enthusiastic as I was about this project day one._

 _Stay Tuned for a special BONUS posting tomorrow!_

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 **It's What's Inside That Counts**

Mary and Aaron had decided that instead of a traditional rehearsal dinner after their Friday evening wedding run through they'd instead have a casual get together at their home. Their idea was that it would give Mary's friends and relatives visiting from Hawaii a chance to get to know Aaron's family and a few of their LA based friends in a more relaxed and informal atmosphere.

The sound of laughter and happy voices that rang through the house were exactly what they'd hoped for. All the extra chairs borrowed from Aaron's parents, his sister and Aunt Deb's houses were filled.

Ramon Reyes talked excitedly to Danny and Gabby about he and his wife's upcoming trip to Peru. Alyssa Jackson cooed over Angie who was in her mother's arms, dressed in an adorable two-piece outfit Mary bought her with navy blue and white striped pants and a top adorned with anchors. Grace was in the dining room helping Susan Reyes, Grandma Ang and Nonna put the finishing touches on the dessert table. Aunt Deb was seated on the couch between Joseph and Elizabeth scrolling through the many pictures she'd taken during her visit to Joan's preschool. Steve, John and Aaron's brother in law Paul finished putting the last of the leftovers in the refrigerator as they discussed the upcoming baseball playoffs. Carrie laughed with Mary and Aaron over memories of Joan and Jacob at Steve and Catherine's wedding reception.

Everyone looked up as Joan bounded into the living room, followed closely by Alyssa's son Avery. Her happy squeals enticed all those people in other rooms into the living room to see what was going on.

"Look at my pwetty dwess!" She announced loudly as she executed a wobbly spin in the middle of the room.

"Very pretty," Mary smiled. "But why don't you take that off and lay it on your bed like we talked about. We want to make sure it doesn't get dirty before the ceremony tomorrow."

"I be vewy cawe-ful," Joan promised solemnly.

"I appreciate that, but why don't you go change into your new Ariel pjs?" Mary suggested. "Show everyone how pretty they are."

"OK, mama."

Joan and Avery headed towards her room, running and giggling. Just before they made it out of the living room the billowing skirt of Joan's dress caught on the edge of the metal chair dolly that had been used to bring extra chairs in earlier in the day and she went down in a heap.

Every woman in the room winced at the sound that met their ears.

It wasn't a crying child. Joanie had yet to utter a peep.

It was the unmistakable sound of ripping satin.

Mary was the first to reach her daughter. She lifted Joan up and brushed her off. "Are you ok?" she asked, trying hard to keep her voice light.

"I'm fine," Joan said confidently. "It didn't even huwt."

As she held her arms out to the side to show her mother she was unharmed her eyes landed on the torn skirt.

"Mama!" she screamed. "My pwetty dwess!" She immediately began to sob and repeated "My pwetty dwess!"

"I see it." Mary wrapped her daughter in her arms and carried her to the nearest chair.

Steve knelt in front of them. "Are you sure you're okay, Joanie?"

"My dwess!" the youngster wailed.

"I see your dress and we'll take care of that," Steve assured her calmly, "but first things first. Are you sure you're okay? I see a scrape on your knee."

Joan wailed louder.

Alyssa was standing closest to the kitchen. "I'll get a boo boo bunny."

As Steve finished a visual check of Joan, Paul Jackson heard his wife in the kitchen saying, "No … don't … stop … no."

He darted into the kitchen quickly followed by Ramon and Danny, both of who were close enough to hear Alyssa over Joan's wailing.

When they arrived they saw Alyssa crouched down in front of the Jackson family dog Thor, his jaws pried open, looking desperately into his mouth.

"What happened?" Paul said, hand over his heart. "I thought you were being attacked."

Alyssa opened her mouth to speak then paused for a minute and thought about what she'd been saying to Thor.

She definitely understood how her husband might have gotten the wrong idea.

"The boo boo bunnies were all the way in the back of the freezer so I had to take the ice cream out to get to them. When I set it on the counter I accidentally knocked off one of Dad's cufflinks and Thor pounced on it and ate it before I could stop him."

"He ate my cufflinks?" Ramon whisper yelled. "The ones I wore when I married your mother? The ones Aaron is planning on wearing tomorrow?"

"Technically he just ate one," Alyssa pointed out.

She looked at Thor who appeared to be proud he'd found the special treat so quickly. She knew she should be angry at him but it was impossible with that adorable face.

"What are we gonna do?" Ramon fought to keep his voice lowered. "Aaron is gonna freak when he finds out!"

"He doesn't have to find out," Alyssa said in a measured tone.

Just then Catherine poked her head in the room. "Any luck with that bunny?" She looked around at the stricken faces on all the men and homed in immediately on Danny. She knew he'd tell her what was going on. "What's wrong?"

"It seems Thor here ate one of the groom's cufflinks," he reported. "The very sentimental cufflinks he is planning to wear for the wedding tomorrow."

Catherine looked at Alyssa. "Well, lucky we have a veterinarian in the house. We can fix this, right?"

Danny smiled at Catherine's typically unflappable nature.

"Right." Alyssa nodded confidently. "Normally I'd say we just let nature take its course but since we don't really have time for that I think I'll need to help things along a little."

Paul paled. "How are you gonna do that?"

"Relax," Alyssa chuckled. "I'll take him down to the office, give him a little medication and voila, the cufflink will reappear. I want to give him the once over anyway to make sure it didn't do any damage on the way down his throat."

"That dog will eat anything that falls on the floor," Paul huffed. "Whether it's food or not."

"It's part of your charm, isn't it sweetheart?" Alyssa said in a sing-song voice as she scratched the dog's ears. She tossed the boo boo bunny to Catherine. "We'll be back before you know it. An hour tops."

"Good." Ramon breathed a sigh of relief. "Now let's not tell Aaron. He has other things to worry about."

"Let's not tell Aaron what?" the bridegroom asked from over Catherine's shoulder.

"It's nothing you need to worry about." Ramon tried to brush him off as Alyssa clipped a leash on Thor and headed for the door.

"Why don't you let me decide that?" Aaron followed the group as they moved into the living room. "What are you not telling me?"

Alyssa stopped in her tracks and turned to look at her brother. She knew if she didn't tell him he'd probably imagine something far worse. She looked at Joan who was continuing to sob into her mother's shoulder, even after the arrival of boo boo bunny, and knew she didn't need to add to Aaron's anxiety.

"If you must know," she said, "Thor swallowed one of dad's cufflinks. I'm taking him down to the office to check him over and to get the cufflink back."

"I have to wear those tomorrow." Aaron placed his hands on his hips. "How are you gonna get it back?"

Alyssa cocked her head. "Do you really wanna know?"

Aaron scuffed his toe on the carpet. "No, I don't. Just … clean it before you bring it back please."

"Will do."

Aaron turned his attention back to Mary and Joan. "Ok, so the cufflink issue is under control, what are we gonna do about the dress?"

"She still has the dress she wore for Steve and Catherine's wedding," Mary brainstormed. "She could wear that."

"No, mama!" Joan wailed. "I want pwetty bwue dwess!"

Mary looked at the torn fabric. "I'm just not sure … " she started.

As a fresh wave of sobs filled the air Nonna, who had been consulting with Grandma Ang for several minutes spoke up. "Bambina, it doesn't matter what you wear tomorrow. The day is about the love you share with your mommy and daddy and the love they have for each other. That love will be on full display tomorrow no matter what you wear. It's what's on the inside that counts."

"But … I … want … my … bwue … dwess," Joan sobbed.

"I know you do," Nonna smiled. "Grandma Ang and I have been talking and we think we have an idea how we can fix your beautiful dress."

"Really?" Mary asked hopefully.

Nonna nodded. "What if we make it a scalloped hem? With a few little snips and some old-fashioned hand sewing we can fix it right up."

"Did you hear that?" Mary kissed Joan on the head. "Nonna and Grandma Ang can fix your dress so you can wear it tomorrow!"

Joan threw her arms in the air, her eyes still moist and red from crying. "YAY!"

"You go put on your pajamas and bring us the dress and we'll have it done for you in no time," Ang said confidently.

"See there," Steve smiled as he tickled Joanie's tummy and made her laugh, "Nothing to worry about after all."

Joan slid off Mary's lap and began to run towards her room.

"Walk please," Mary called after her, then stood. "I think I better go with her."

"Just point us to where you keep the sewing kit," Ang said.

"You ladies stay right where you are," Aaron smiled. "I'll bring it to you."

Forty-five minutes later the two great grandmothers held up the finished garment. True to their prediction it was hard to tell the dress hadn't always had a scalloped hem.

"Look, it's all done. Isn't it pretty?" Mary held the dress up for Joan, who was sitting on Elizabeth's lap, reading a book, to see.

Joan hopped down and approached slowly.

She fingered the fabric.

"But it's not like youws anymowe, mama," she said sadly as her hands ran across the hem.

Before Mary could answer Alyssa reappeared with Thor, a stricken look on her face.

"What happened? Did you get it? Why do you have that look?" Aaron asked.

"I got it." Alyssa produced a small baggie from her pocket and held it up. "Cleaned and everything. As promised."

Aaron crossed the room, took the baggie and sighed with relief. "Looks great." He narrowed his eyes at his sister. "So, what's with the look?"

"Well." She took a deep fortifying breath. "As I was turning into the driveway I misjudged how much room I had and I scraped the side of someone's rental car."

"What kind of car?" Aaron asked.

"Dark blue Suburban."

Steve raised his hand. "That's us."

"I'm so sorry. I didn't realize how close I was until I heard that sickening sound of metal scraping metal." She unclipped Thor's leash. "I really thought I had room."

"That's what we pay insurance for," Steve shrugged. "Let's go take a look."

There was no way he was going to let a little thing like a scratch on a vehicle ruin the night before Mary's wedding.

As they reentered the house five minutes later Alyssa was once again promising to cover any costs.

"It'll be fine," Steve assured her. "It's just a surface scratch."

Before Alyssa could apologize yet again Mary entered the living room carrying her wedding dress and approached Nonna and Grandma Ang. "I know it's a lot to ask but would it be possible for you to scallop my hem as well?"

Nonna's face immediately softened. "Of course, bella."

Grandma Ang reached out and squeezed Mary's hand. "It'll be our pleasure."

"That's your pwetty dwess, mama." Joan yawned and held her arms up to her mother. A second later Aaron joined them and slid his arm around Mary's waist.

"That's right." Mary kissed Joan's nose. "That's my dress. Nonna and Grandma Ang are gonna fix it so my hem looks like yours and then our dresses will match again."

"They awe?" Joan placed her hands on Mary's cheeks and smiled brightly. "Really?"

"Yes, they are," Mary beamed. "Because your smile is prettier than any dress and seeing you happy makes me happier than anything else in the world."

"I wuv you." Joan laid her head on Mary's shoulder. "You too, daddy."

"And we love you," Aaron said around the lump in his throat.

Mary stroked Joan's hair. "Very much. And tomorrow, as much fun as it will be to wear a pretty dress and look at all the pretty decorations, we know that it's not about that, right?"

Steve wrapped his arm around Catherine as he wondered to himself exactly how much of what Mary was saying Joan truly understood.

His answer came a second later when Joan lifted her head and smiled at both her parents.

"Right. It's about the wuv."

 **THE END**

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